SE29 


September)  i9iO 


THE  HEALTH  SHOW  COMES 
TO  TOWN 


Department  of  Surveys  and  Exhibits 
Russell  Sage  Foundation 
New  York 


Price,  30  Cents 


SE29  September,  1920 


THE  HEALTH  SHOW  COMES 
TO  TOWN 

THE  STORY  OF  A CAMPAIGN  OF  HEALTH  EDUCATION 
WHICH  INCLUDED  THE  PLATFORM  USE  OF  MECHAN- 
ICAL DEVICES  AND  DRAMATIC  ACTION 


BY 

EVART  G.  ROUTZAHN 

ASSOCIATE  DIRECTOR.  DEPARTMENT  OF  SURVEYS  AND  EXHIBITS 
RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION 


Department  or  Surveys  and  Exhibits 
Russell  Sage  Foundation 
New  York 


Modern  health  ideas  have  to  be  spread  under  conditions  as  they  exist.  Most  of  the  traveling  be- 
tween cities  in  China  is  done  by  boat,  but  local  transfer  is  by  man-power.  The  38  boxes  containing  the 
health  exhibit  and  lecturing  apparatus,  set  on  poles  attached  to  one-wheel  vehicles,  are  in  charge  of 
a dozen  to  15  coolies.  The  38  boxes  weigh  two  and  a half  tons. 


THE  HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 

I 

BRIDGING  THE  GAP 

When  anyone  succeeds  in  bridging  the  gap  between  a fund  of 
information  and  the  minds  and  hearts  of  people  whose  interest 
in  it  is  sought,  we  sometimes  say  that  he  “gets  it  across.”  We 
recognize  that  he  has  accomplished  a difficult  feat  and  should  like 
to  understand  how  he  does  it. 

Those  who  have  heard  Dr.  W.  W.  Peter  describe  his  health 
education  campaigns  in  China  are  enthusiastic  in  stating  their 
belief  that  he  succeeds  in  getting  his  information  about  health 
questions  all  the  way  across  to  his  audiences,  which  is  to  say  that 
he  gets  attention  for  it;  makes  it  intelligible  and  interesting  to 
persons  unfamiliar  with  the  subject;  puts  it  up  in  packages  that 
are  conveniently  carried  in  the  memory  and,  most  important  of  all, 
gets  it  into  use.  For  the  benefit  of  the  many  social  workers  who 
have  a similar  problem  of  making  social  information  interesting, 
we  have  asked  him  to  tell  how  he  does  it.  The  account  of  the 
traveling  health  campaigns  contained  in  the  following  pages  is 
made  up  from  stenographic  notes  taken  as  Dr.  Peter  talked,  with 
his  characteristic  picturesqueness  of  expression,  to  small  audi- 
ences, or  as  he  answered  our  questions  during  informal  conver- 
sations. 

Dr.  Peter  is  engaged  in  promoting  public  health  in  China 
through  a campaign  of  education.  The  work  was  started  in  1912 
through  the  organization  of  a health  division  in  the  Lecture  De- 
partment of  the  National  Committee  of  the  Young  Men’s  Chris- 
tian Association  of  China.  In  1915,  when  the  China  Medical 
Missionary  Association  created  the  Council  of  Public  Health,  the 
work  was  enlarged.  A year  later,  on  the  appointment  of  a Public 
Health  Committee  by  the  National  Medical  Association,  the  three 

3 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


organizations  united  in  forming  a Joint  Council  on  Public  Health 
Education,  under  whose  auspices  the  health  campaigns  were  di- 
rected by  Dr.  Peter.  In  1919  the  China  Christian  Education 
Association  joined  the  council. 

The  feature  of  Dr.  Peter’s  work  that  has  aroused  the  most 
interest  on  the  part  of  many  American  audiences  that  heard  him 
during  his  leave  of  absence  in  this  country  was  the  use  of  dramatic 
action  and  mechanical  and  electrical  devices  to  illustrate  his 
talks.  A number  of  these  “object  lessons,”  as  he  called  them,  are 
described  in  considerable  detail  in  the  following  pages.  His 
illustrated  talk,  supplemented  by  an  exhibit,  forms  the  central 
feature,  the  “big  show”  around  which  an  intensive  campaign  to 
get  a public  health  movement  started  in  a given  city  is  built  up. 
In  organizing  the  campaign  in  each  city.  Dr.  Peter  has  developed 
many  other  features  which,  though  more  familiar  to  us  than  the 
object  lesson  talk,  are  equally  significant  as  illustrations  of  good 
campaign  methods.  For  example,  the  intensive  training  of  a 
“health  faculty,”  a happy  title  for  the  group  of  exhibit  explainers, 
has  been  developed  with  a full  recognition  of  the  value  of  such  a 
trained  body  of  local  helpers  both  to  the  campaign  itself  and  to 
the  future  of  the  health  movement  in  the  community.  The 
advertising  value  of  an  unusual  incident  or  circumstance,  such 
as  the  unique  method  of  transporting  the  exhibit  employed  or  the 
accident  of  a lecture  hall  with  a mysterious  exit,  is  quickly  per- 
ceived and  turned  to  account. 

These  and  many  other  features  of  his  campaigns,  as  Dr.  Peter 
describes  them,  tell  how  but  they  do  not  tell  why  he  gets  his  mes- 
sage across.  Those  who  have  met  him  and  heard  him  speak  will 
probably  say  that  the  reason  why  is  personality,  ingenuity,  a keen 
sense  of  humor,  a thorough  knowledge  of  his  subject,  and  enthu- 
siasm. Personality  certainly  plays  an  important  part,  but  as  we 
listened  to  Dr.  Peter,  as  he  talked  about  his  problem  and  his  needs, 
we  felt  that  there  were  still  more  important  explanations  for  the 
unusually  good  work  that  he  does.  Perhaps  Dr.  Peter  is  merely 
lucky  in  having  a task  so  overwhelmingly  large  that  he  feels  that 
he  and  his  associates  with  all  their  resources  are,  as  he  expressed 

4 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


it,  “like  an  ant  grabbing  the  leg  of  a beetle  and  trying  to  move  it.” 
At  any  rate,  this  conception  of  the  size  of  his  task  has  led  him  to 
feel  the  need  at  each  step  of  having  some  immediate  achievable 
objective  to  cling  to,  and  of  measuring  each  thing  that  he  does  by 
its  relation  to  that  objective. 

Then,  again,  for  many  of  us  who  have  information  to  give,  our 
audiences  are  so  familiar  to  us — just  fellow-citizens  and  perhaps 
even  neighbors — that  we  assume,  somewhat  rashly  perhaps,  that 
we  know  all  we  need  to  know  about  their  point  of  view  and  in- 
terests. But  when  one  undertakes,  as  Dr.  Peter  is  doing,  to 
influence  people  of  another  race  and  language  to  make  radical 
changes  in  their  habits,  the  matter  of  understanding  the  audience 
becomes  obviously  of  great  importance.  And  so  Dr.  Peter  has 
devoted  much  time  and  attention  to  learning  all  he  could  about 
the  Chinese;  their  interests,  habits,  needs,  desires  and  prejudices. 
A third  advantage  possessed  by  Dr.  Peter  was  that  he  did  not 
know  a lot  about  educational  and  publicity  methods,  but  under- 
standing very  well  what  he  wished  to  accomplish,  he  was  from 
the  beginning  extremely  critical  of  his  own  methods. 

The  campaign  plan  had  reached  the  form  described  here  be- 
fore Dr.  Peter  left  China  for  war  work  in  France.  It  reached 
this  stage,  so  he  tells  us,  only  after  a great  many  failures,  and  after 
much  scrapping  of  pet  ideas  and  projects  which  experimenting 
had  proved  unsuccessful. 

Dr.  Peter  is  now  again  in  China,  where  he  is  studying  and  plan- 
ning, testing  and  discarding,  ever  bettering  his  approach  to  the 
minds  and  lives  of  his  audiences.  In  a letter  which  he  wrote  on 
the  way  back  he  says:  “ In  divers  ways  we  have  been  too  compli- 
cated in  times  past.  Unconsciously,  I fear  we  gloried  in  ‘showin  ’ 
them  how  much  they  didn’t  know.  I shall  go  in  for  simplicity 
more  and  more,  fewer  subjects,  and  more  work  on  our  part  to 
prepare  the  appeal  these  subjects  hold  for  the  gropers  for  light.” 


5 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


II 

DR.  PETER’S  OWN  STORY 

If  it  is  decided  to  hold  a campaign  in  a city,  says  Dr.  Peter,  the 
local  people  must  be  responsible  for  organizing  it  and  for  meeting 
all  expenses. 

We  have  a handbook  or  manual  called  “How  to  Hold  a Success- 
ful Health  Campaign,’’  and  when  an  invitation  to  conduct  a cam- 
paign comes  from  a city  and  we  feel  they  are  ready  for  it,  we  send 
them  a copy  of  this  book.  It  is  written  in  Chinese  and  is  accom- 
panied by  a typewritten  copy  in  English. 

In  this  book  we  name  a few  cardinal  points.  One  is  that  a 
campaign  is  possible  only  when  the  influential  people  of  the  city 
back  it.  If  the  city  is  a provincial  capital,  the  campaign  must 
have  the  support  of  the  key  men  in  government,  business,  educa- 
tion, etc.  These  key  men  decide  the  time  and  place  for  the  ex- 
hibit, raise  the  money,  and  assume  full  responsibility  for  it. 

Securing  Attention  Through  a Local  Committee 

With  the  handbook  we  send  a collection  of  pictures,  which 
gives  a better  idea  than  would  all  our  letters  on  how  things  have 
been  done  in  other  cities.  We  also  send  a box  of  50  lantern 
slides  so  that  the  local  committee  can  hold  a meeting  and  explain 
the  plan  to  a larger  group. 

The  first  crack  out  of  the  box  is  sub  rosa.  Nobody  on  the  out- 
side knows  anything  about  what  is  going  on.  The  committee  of 
the  king  pins  is  organized  quietly,  and  when  they  are  ready,  any 
announcement  they  make  is  listened  to  all  over  the  city,  since 
they  are  a very  representative  group.  This  pinnacle  group  is 
often  composed  of  men  who  meet  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives  to 
discuss  a common  problem.  In  China  the  people  are  divided 
into  classes  as  separate  and  distinct  as  though  they  lived  in 
separate,  metal  compartments.  There  is  no  social  consciousness,  no 
definite  attempt  to  mold  public  opinion  as  there  is  in  America.  We 
have  not  reached  that  stage  yet.  We  have  settled  in  the  lowlands 

6 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


and  in  the  highlands  of  social  life.  Things  are  as  they  are  because 
they  are.  Who  is  he  that  will  make  out  of  a valley  a mountain? 

But  we  are  finding  out  that  there  are  plenty  of  men  willing  to 
get  together  on  the  things  on  which  they  can  agree.  They  can- 
not agree  on  religion;  they  won’t  agree  on  business.  But  here 


Some  Facts  “On  Their  Way” 

General  Wang  and  his  staff  of  officers  control  the  police  matters,  includ- 
ing health  regulations  of  over  30  million  people  in  Kwangtung  Province, 
China.  The  General's  pockets  may  be  seen  bulging  with  health  pamphlets 
given  him  when  his  party  spent  three  hours  examining  the  health  exhibit 
and  sitting  through  the  ninety-minute  demonstrated  health  lecture  in 
Canton  during  the  public  health  campaign.  In  one  week  21,129  people 
attended  34  meetings. 


is  something  that  concerns  all  of  us — national  health.  This  is  a 
striking  thing — men  who  never  worked  together  before  now  are 
team-working  enthusiastically.  What’s  more,  it  is  good  adver- 
tising. This  group  issues  invitations  which  are  distributed  like 
Liberty  Bonds:  through  the  police,  the  ministers,  the  educators, 

7 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


the  military  commander.  I can  tell  how  successful  a campaign 
will  be  by  the  market  price  of  the  free  tickets!  They  are  given 
free  but  it  is  very  hard  to  get  one.  You  have  to  do  something  or 
be  somebody,  at  least  potentially,  to  get  one.  This  invitation 
has  behind  it  the  best  and  biggest  men  of  the  city.  So  you  are  not 
likely  to  refuse  one.  Everybody  who  is  anybody  will  be  there  and 
you  will  kick  yourself  if  you  don’t  go. 

First  we  want  the  officials;  the  men  who  will  probably  be  the 
succeeding  officials  are  the  ones  we  want  next.  I was  satisfied 
at  one  time  to  get  only  the  office  holders  together,  but  in  later 
campaigns  I found  the  fellows  who  were  then  in  the  limelight  had 
never  heard  of  me.  The  commissioner  of  education  is  on  the 
committee  and  he  invites  the  principals  of  the  public  schools. 
Missionaries  also  come  and  all  teachers  and  all  students.  We  do 
not  send  invitations  to  individual  students.  The  commissioner 
of  education  sends  word  to  the  principal  that  “on  Tuesday  after- 
noon your  school  will  be  there.’’  On  the  first  day  the  principal 
comes  by  invitation  and  on  a later  day  he  comes  by  order.  The 
chief  military  men  come,  particularly  the  officers  in  training. 
Sometimes  the  committee  gets  away  from  us.  The  commissioner 
of  education  brings  so  many  schools,  the  police  commissioner 
brings  his  whole  force,  and  the  military  commander  'so  many 
soldiers  that  it  is  impossible  to  accommodate  them  all. 

Advertising  the  Campaign:  Sandwich  Men 

Although  the  audience  is  always  a picked  one,  the  opportunity 
to  spread  the  message  to  many  others  who  should  but  cannot 
hear  the  lectures  or  see  the  exhibits  is  not  overlooked.  We  want 
our  health  campaign  to  be  the  topic  of  conversation  on  the  streets 
and  in  the  tea  shops.  We  want  even  the  people  who  cannot 
come  to  the  exhibit  to  see  our  procession,  to  know  that  we  are  in 
town,  and  to  wonder  what  we  are  going  to  do.  Then,  when  the 
folks  who  have  seen  the  exhibit  tell  these  others  what  they  have 
learned,  they  will  be  in  a receptive  frame  of  mind.  Our  advertis- 
ing has  prepared  their  minds  and  when  they  meet  the  fellow  who 
has  seen  the  whole  program  they  readily  swallow  his  talk. 

8 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


In  one  city  the  sandwich  men  who  carried  placards  telling  about 
the  campaign  were  first  lined  up  every  morning  as  you  see  them 


The  Health  Show  is  Here 

Sandwich  men  lined  up  ready  to  form  a procession  through  the  main 
street  to  advertise  the  campaign. 


in  the  pictures  above,  and  then  split  up  into  squads  and  sent 
through  the  city.  It  was  a brand  new  stunt  in  China.  The 

9 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


people  had  never  seen  men  carrying  sandwich  boards  or  wearing 
funeral-like  uniforms  bearing  printed  matter  about  health  and 
life.  These  announcements  read  somewhat  as  follows: 


Health  Exhibit 
Health  Meeting 

A great  public  health 
meeting  will  be  held 
in  the  Temples  of 
Earth  and  Agriculture 

Come  to  the  For- 

under  the  auspices  of 

bidden  City — if  you 

the  Ministry  of  the 

can  get  a ticket. 

Interior. 

See  the  Newspapers. 

Health? 

Have  You  Got  It? 
Has  China  Got  It? 

Come  to  the  Meet- 
ings— with  a proper 
ticket. 


In  addition  to  carrying  the  signs,  the  men  occasionally  livened 
things  up  by  shouting  out  the  news.  I always  favor  that  be- 
cause the  percentage  of  illiteracy  is  so  high. 

Getting  the  Campaign  Talked  about  in  Advance 
Our  method  of  transporting  the  exhibit  from  the  boat  or  the 
train  that  brings  it  to  town  to  the  hall  is  another  form  of  adver- 
tising. We  have  38  boxes  all  painted  black.  The  red  triangle 
inside  a circle  is  on  the  sides  of  each.  The  name  of  the  organ- 
ization in  Chinese  and  in  English  is  there  also.  We  pack  one 
large  box  and  two  small  boxes  on  a cart.  It  takes  82  coolies  to 

10 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


carry  this  consignment  through  the  streets.  We  have  no  signs 
explaining  what  we  are  going  to  do,  nor  do  we  advertise  where  we 
are  going.  My  two  Chinese  assistants  spend  perhaps  half  an 
hour  telling  the  coolies  all  about  the  big  show.  The  coolies  have 
a habit  of  making  up  verses  and  chanting  them  in  a chorus  that 
they  keep  time  to  in  their  dog-trot  through  the  streets  with  their 
burdens.  When  the  procession  goes  through  the  streets  carrying 
our  exhibit  material  in  carts,  the  coolies,  who  seldom  stop  chant- 
ing, shout  out  their  chorus  about  our  show.  This  gives  the 
crowds  that  gather  plenty  to  talk  about.  We  couldn’t  have 
better  advertising  than  that.  Thousands  of  people  learn  about 
us  and  in  a manner  they  do  not  quickly  forget. 

We  take  advantage  of  any  circumstance  that  can  be  turned  to 
account  in  attracting  attention  to  the  campaign.  The  picture  on 
page  12  shows  a building  where  the  exhibition  was  held  in  one 
city.  The  entrance  was  on  one  street  but  the  exit  was  at  the 
rear  of  the  building  on  to  another  street.  So  we  put  up  a sign 
over  the  structure  calling  it  “The  door  where  you  go  in  but  do 
not  come  out.”  This  was  a deep  mystery  to  the  people  who 
gathered  in  great  crowds  to  watch  the  visitors  disappear  into  this 
dangerous  place,  and  while  they  -watched  they  asked  each  other 
what  was  going  on  there  and  learned  a little  about  the  health  idea. 

An  amusing  incident  in  this  connection  was  our  experience  in 
attempting  to  get  a picture  of  the  crowd  in  front  of  this  building. 
The  photographer  waited  from  early  morning  until  late  afternoon 
hoping  for  a chance  to  get  a good  picture  of  the  front  of  the 
building,  which  he  thought  his  instructions  required.  Finally  in 
desperation  he  called  a policeman  to  drive  the  people  away!  In 
his  efforts  to  get  the  crowd  out  of  his  way  he  was  chased  off  the 
street,  his  camera  upset,  and  he  was  nearly  mobbed. 

The  Campaign  Program 

During  a week’s  campaign  five  of  the  six  days  are  devoted  to 
talks  to  men  on  national  health  as  a means  of  securing  national 
strength.  On  the  sixth  day  a woman  talks  to  the  women  on  the 
care  of  their  babies.  She  uses  a real  baby  to  demonstrate  bathing 

II 


12 


Here  over  nineteen  thousand  people  saw  the  exhibit  during  three  days  in  the  International  section  of  Shanghai.  This  happened 
just  before  the  annual  rate-payers’  meeting  (mostly  foreigners).  The  year  before  they  had  voted  down  an  appropriation  for  a 
tuberculosis  sanatorium  extension  to  the  municipal  hospital.  After  this  and  other  educational  work  was  done,  these  same  rate 
payers  voted  about  $75,000.  See  page  11. 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


the  baby.  A health  faculty  of  women  assists  her  in  explaining 
the  exhibit. 

There  are  three  stages  to  our  program:  first,  the  exhibits; 
second,  the  meeting  and  lecture;  and  third,  the  stereopticon 
illustrations.  We  often  have  three  halls:  one  with  plenty  of 
light  where  we  may  have  the  right  of  way  to  build  shelves,  set  up 
booths  and  fixtures,  etc. ; a second  building  where  we  can  accom- 
modate a large  audience  and  can  build  a special  platform ; a third, 
where  we  can  show  lantern  slides  which  we  generally  use  in  the 
evening. 

We  need  a wellknown  place  with  a good  reputation ; centrally 
located  with  reference  to  Shank’s  mares;  accessible  from  a court- 
yard; simple,  with  not  too  many  twists  and  turns;  with  plenty 
of  light  and  air;  heat,  no  matter.  In  Hangchow  we  were  in  a 
compound  where  so  many  buildings  had  been  put  up  through  the 
years  without  plan,  that  a visitor  going  through  the  narrow, 
tortuous  passageways  of  the  compound  asked,  “Did  anyone  ever 
get  lost  here  and  starve  before  he  was  found?” 

The  exhibit  and  meeting  are  held  in  the  morning  and  afternoon, 
and  now  and  then  in  the  evening.  Usually  the  lecture  and  lantern 
slides  are  given  in  the  same  building.  We  have  had  as  many  as  six 
meetings  during  a forenoon  and  afternoon.  The  same  lecture  is 
repeated  for  each  audience.  There  is  more  than  one  advantage 
in  standardizing  the  lecture.  Once  my  voice  gave  out  and  I 
went  to  the  chairman  in  great  distress  to  explain  that  the  lecture 
would  have  to  be  called  off.  “Oh,  that’s  all  right,”  he  said  cheer- 
fully. “Dr.  Chuan  will  give  it — he  has  heard  you  several  times.” 
To  my  astonishment  Dr.  Chuan  reproduced  not  only  my  words 
and  my  use  of  apparatus,  but  he  even  used  many  of  my  gestures. 

The  exhibit  takes  an  hour  and  a half  to  see  and  then  the  people 
listen  to  the  lecture,  which  takes  another  hour  and  a half.  While 
the  lecture  is  going  on,  a second  group  is  going  through  the  ex- 
hibit. This  program  can  be  continued  until  the  staff  grows  tired. 

Three  hours  is  a weakness,  but  I have  found  it  exceedingly 
difficult  to  make  the  time  any  shorter.  There  are,  however, 
redeeming  features.  One  is  variety.  Another  is  physical  en- 

13 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


vironment — the  people  walk  around.  A third  is  that  they  pass 
through  the  hands  of  many  different  men.  No  man  holds  them 
longer  than  a few  minutes.  After  they  have  spent  an  hour  and  a 
half  walking  about,  seeing  the  whole  exhibit,  they  are  generally 
tired,  and  when  they  enter  the  lecture  room  are  glad  of  the 
opportunity  to  rest  a few  minutes  while  the  stragglers  find  seats. 
Then  I come  along  and  talk,  but  more  than  half  of  my  talk  is 
illustrated  by  means  of  apparatus.  Thus  people  do  not  lose  in- 
terest, for  they  have  opportunity  to  use  not  one  but  all  their 
senses,  sight,  hearing,  smell  (the  acetylene  I use  in  some  of  my 
apparatus  satisfies  that) , and  taste,  as  I give  them  tea. 

The  lecture  demonstration  is  staged  in  a way  that  will  corral 
the  attention  of  the  audience.  They  come  to  see  and  hear  that 
foreigner  on  the  platform.  But  he  may  tire  them  with  his  poor 
Chinese,  or  for  one  of  a dozen  reasons  they  may  begin  to  lose  in- 
terest. Their  eyes  would  then  stray  off  to  the  sides  and  rear  of 
the  platform.  Chinese  buildings  have  a lot  of  fascinating  archi- 
tectural gimcracks,  scroll  work,  pictures,  writing  and  whatnot  to 
compete  with  a lecturer.  Hence  the  blue  and  gray  curtains  all 
thfe  way  across  the  zone  of  horizontal  sight  in  front  of  the  would-be 
wanderers.  They  have  to  be  plumb  discouraged  over  a lecture  to 
hang  their  gaze  for  long  on  a blue  curtain.  In  the  meantime,  for 
the  performance  is  all  a moving  stream,  more  than  an  hour  long, 
something  is  liable  to  happen  there  in  the  center  to  bring  them 
back.  “Those  curtains?  What’s  behind  them?  They  cover 
something.  We  cannot  see.  We  will  wait.  By  and  by  the 
foreigner  will  come  to  it.’’ 


The  Message 

During  my  last  two  years  in  China  I traveled  22,600  miles  in 
the  interest  of  public  health.  I visited  13  of  the  18  provinces. 
I came  into  contact  with  the  coolie  on  the  street,  the  merchant  in 
the  shop,  the  teacher  in  the  school,  the  officers  of  the  army,  the 
governors  of  provinces,  and  twice  with  the  President  of  the  nation. 
I drank  tea  with  them  all,  and,  being  a man  at  least  of  linguistic 
bravery,  I talked  with  them  all.  I found  them  primarily  inter- 

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HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


ested  in  one  subject — national  strength.  What  a man  did  for  his 
living  determined  what  lay  in  the  outer  field  of  his  consciousness, 
but  that  constituted  merely  a starting  point  leading  to  the  thing 
in  the  inner  field  of  his  mind — national  strength.  It  was  this 
discovery  that  led  me  to  exclude  all  other  subjects  in  my  public 
work  and  to  speak  only  on  “The  Relation  of  National  Health  to 
National  Strength.’’ 

The  demonstrated  lecture  consists  in  making  out  a case  for  this 
proposition,  and  every  step  in  the  argument  takes  into  account 
some  widely  held  prejudice  or  belief  or  trait  which  needs  to  be 
reckoned  with. 

The  Demonstrated  Lecture:  First  the  Death  Rate 

The  first  proposition  is:  “Every  Strong  Nation  Has  a Small 
Death  Rate  and  Every  Weak  Nation  a Large  Death  Rate.’’  I 
tell  my  audience  that  weak  nations  have  a large  death  rate.  Sus- 
piended  from  the  ceiling  is  a rack.  A curtain  opens  and  a box, 
which  is  high  up  near  the  rack,  drops  down.  As  it  falls  pictured 
skulls  appear  one  under  the  other.  The  first  skull  has  its  profile 
toward  the  audience,  the  second  one  is  turned  a little  more  for- 
ward, the  third  one  still  more  forward,  and  so  on  until  the  last  one 
faces  the  audience.  On  the  reverse  side  of  each  skull  is  the 
Chinese  character  “Death,’’  and  instead  of  the  whole  strip  of 
skulls  turning,  by  an  ingenious  Chinese  device  each  skull  flops 
over  in  turn.  This  string  of  skulls  represents  the  number  of 
deaths  per  thousand  in  a weak  nation.  “Let  me  demonstrate 
that  strong  nations  have  a small  death  rate.’’  A curtain  parts 
and  only  a few  skulls  drop.  This  is  America  with  a death  rate  of 
15  per  1,000,  then  comes  England  with  16  per  1,000,  Germany  18, 
India  33  per  1,000,  and  disturbed  Mexico  with  35  per  1,000. 

I bring  out  the  point  that  a strong  nation  spends  a great  deal  of 
money  learning  what  causes  the  deaths  in  its  country  and  how  to 
prevent  at  least  some  of  them  and  lessen  the  death  rate.  Weak 
nations  do  not  know  why  their  people  die.  They  accept  the  deaths 
as  God’s  will  and  think  no  more  about  the  matter.  In  my  talk  I 
say,  “Does  anyone  here  know  what  the  death  rate  is  in  China?’’ 

i6 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 

Nobody  knows,  and  after  an  impressive  pause  I tell  my  audience 
that  according  to  the  average  of  all  the  different  rates  which  I 
have  been  given  during  the  last  two  years  by  both  foreign  and 
Chinese  authorities,  it  is  40  per  1,000.  And  40  skulls  are  dropped. 

The  skull  device  is  a sort  of  Jacob’s  ladder,  made  up  of  a number 
of  small  wooden  boards,  of  about  letterhead  size,  held  together  by 
bands  of  steel  tape,  similar  to  a toy  not  uncommon  in  America. 
When  the  top  board  is  given  a half  turn  along  its  horizontal  axis, 
the  tape  permits  the  others  to  drop  one  after  another  until  all 
have  exposed  their  reverse  face  to  the  spectators.  The  clattering 
noise  and  the  jumping-jack  movement  that  the  apparatus  makes 
is  a fine  thing  with  which  every  once  in  a while  to  wake  up  a 
sleepy  audience. 

But  a high  death  rate  is  not  such  a shock  after  all,  because  all 
Chinese  will  tell  you  that  China  is  overpopulated.  “Why,  Dr. 
Peter,”  protested  one  member  of  an  audience,  “we  depend  on 
fever  and  plague  and  smallpox  to  keep  us  from  crowding  each 
other  off  into  the  ocean ! ” 

Is  China  Overpopulated? 

So  then,  I take  up  the  question,  “Is  China  overpopulated?” 
Here  are  two  tables  and  on  each  there  are  80  men  in  rows  of  ten. 
The  table  at  the  left  is  Europe  and  the  one  at  the  right  is  Asia. 
The  tops  of  the  tables  are  square  and  represent  one  square  li, 
which  equals  one-ninth  of  a square  mile.  With  these  tables  can 
be  demonstrated  the  fact  that  China  is  not  overpopulated. 
China  ranks  only  tenth  in  density  of  population  among  the  great 
nations. 1 

Then  when  I tell  my  audience  that  there  are  13  people  per 
square  li  in  Europe  and  only  6 per  square  li  in  Asia,  13  figures 
appear  on  one  table  and  6 on  the  other.  I clear  the  tables  again 
and  say,  “In  Germany  before  the  war  [there  were  33  people  per 
square  li,”  and  33  men  pop  up.  Next,  England,  40;  little  Hol- 
land, 53;  and  Belgium,  73.  “What  country  would  you  like  to 


'“China:  an  Interpretation,”  James  Whitford  Bashford  (Abingdon  Press). 

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HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


know  about  next?”  This  is  always  a safe  question  because  a 
Chinese  audience  will  always  answer,  “Japan.” 

I turn  to  the  table  representing  all  of  Asia  and  I pull  the  lines — • 
28  men  pop  out.  Then  India,  20. 

Then  I ask,  “What  country  next?”  and  of  course  the  answer  is 
“China.”  At  this  point  I always  tell  this  story:  At  one  of  my 
lectures  a man  said  “One  table  not  enough — want  four  tables. 
Fill  them  all  full  men  and  then  only  you  can  show  how  China  is 
overpopulated.  Why,  China  IS  overpopulated!  We  have  four 
times  the  population  of  America.”  Then  I pull  out  a book;  it  is 
convincing  to  consult  a book  when  there  is  any  doubt  about  your 
facts,  and  say:  “In  1910  your  government  conducted  a census 
and  here  are  the  figures.” 

If  I have  the  time  I have  a man  figure  the  problem  out  on  an 
abacus.  I demonstrate  that  in  China  there  are  11  people  per 
square  li.  Although  there  is  an  unequal  distribution  of  popula- 
tion, China  is  not  overpopulated. 

The  Foundation  of  National  Health 

I have  been  talking  about  national  health.  Very  naturally  the 
question  is  coming  to  the  Chinese  mind,  “What  does  Dr.  Peter 
mean  by  national  health?  How  do  you  get  it?  Can  we  send  to 
America  for  it?  What  sort  of  a foundation  does  it  rest  on?” 
When  I say  a certain  sentence  a curtain  back  of  me  opens  and  a 
glass  box  comes  into  my  hand.  “Let  the  glass  box  represent 
National  Health.  The  characters  for  National  Health  are 
written  on  the  box  in  red.  I want  to  build  a foundation  of  Na- 
tional Health  before  your  eyes.  Now  when  I have  the  proper 
foundation  for  it  this  box  will  light  up.”  I ask  “Can  you  name  one 
stone  in  this  foundation  of  National  Health?”  And  from  a 
Chinese  audience  the  answer  is  always  “Money.”  My  man 
“Friday”  brings  out  the  second  box,  which  has  on  it  the  Chinese 
character  for  money,  and  I approach  it  and  place  the  glass  box 
on  it  as  if  my  life  depended  on  the  glass  lighting  up.  Nothing 
happens,  so  “Saturday”  brings  out  a box  labeled  “Special  Health 
Laws,”  the  contents  of  which  I explain  briefly  and  place  under 

19 


20 


Dr.  Peter  has  built  this  pyramid,  representing  the  foundation  of  national  health,  before  the  eyes  of  the  audience. 
He  has  now  triumphantly  demonstrated  that  the  light  which  represents  national  health  will  shine  only  when  the  last 
and  most  important  stone,  namely,  public  opinion,  is  added.  (The  pyramid  here  shown  is  a miniature  of  the  one  used 
regularly  by  him  in  China.) 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


“ Money” ; but  the  glass  at  the  top  remains  dark.  Next  comes  a 
larger  box  labeled  “Education” — not  reading,  writing,  and  arith- 
metic, but  trained  leadership.  That  box  is  so  heavy  that  it 
takes  two  men  to  bring  it  out.  It  is  placed  under  the  other  three, 
but  still  no  light.  “What  else  is  needed?”  The  fifth  box  is 
brought  out.  It  is  called  “Public  Opinion.”  It  is  placed  under 
the  others  and,  behold ! the  glass  box  glows  with  light ! 

Next  I ask,  “How  is  China  going  to  get  National  Health  and 
everything  you  have  been  dreaming  about?”  A piece  of  appa- 
ratus comes  forth  on  a tripod.  There  are  two  sets  of  wheels,  one 
inside  the  other.  The  largest  one,  which  forms  the  outer  rim, 
represents  the  objective.  We  must  make  this  wheel  turn.  The 
inner  wheel  is  not  solid.  It  is  composed  of  several  small  wheels. 
These  are  the  different  classes  of  people  in  the  community,  the 
soldiers,  educators,  officials,  etc.,  and  as  these  small  wheels  turn 
they  represent  the  daily  grind.  (Some  of  them  touch  the  big 
outer  wheel  but  they  do  not  touch  each  other  properly.)  These 
are  the  people  working  individually  and  making  no  united  effort 
toward  the  goal  they  are  seeking.  If  they  will  work  together  the 
big  wheel  will  turn  and  they  can  obtain  National  Health.  Then 
the  two  sets  of  wheels  lock,  the  small  ones  turn  round  and  round 
and  the  big  one  moves  with  them. 

This  apparatus  can  be  worked  with  a motor  and  belt  or  by 
hand. 


China’s  Load 

A man  comes  out  on  the  platform  bending  over  under  the 
weight  of  a big  load  on  his  back.  As  he  walks  across  the  stage  I 
say,  “That  is  China.  See  how  bowed  and  bent  he  is.  What  can 
we  do  to  lighten  his  load?”  I open  the  man’s  sack  and  pull  out 
a box  marked  “Smallpox”;  and  then  I pull  out  another  marked 
“Cholera.”  The  man  straightens  up  a bit  and  I pullout  “Plague” 
and  several  other  diseases  and  he  stands  nearly  erect.  (I  don’t 
pull  out  “Tuberculosis.”  Nobody  has  yet  disposed  of  that  any- 
where. I leave  that  and  some  others.)  It  actually  is  a heavy 
sack  because  the  boxes  are  really  heavy.  As  the  blocks  are  lifted 

21 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


out  they  are  passed  through  the  curtains  and  stacked  up  on  the 
floor  to  form  a base  on  which  a man  can  stand. 

“That  is  China’s  big  burden.  You  can  lessen  the  burden  but 
that  is  up  to  you.  Would  you  like  to  see  China  fifty  years  from 
now?  Don’t  be  hopeless  about  it.  Just  because  China  is  stoop- 
ing under  a large  pack  now  is  no  reason  why  it  should  be  bent 


Shelter  the  B.\by 

The  first  of  these  candles,  representing  infancy,  is  long  and  burns  with  a 
dim  light.  The  second,  representing  middle  age,  is  half  burned  and  has  a 
brilliant  light.  The  third  one  is  old  age.  It  is  only  a stub  and  burns  with 
a dim  light.  “Infancy  and  old  age  are  like  candles  newly  lit  and  nearly 
burned  out.”  These  are  the  two  periods  when  life  is  most  easily  snuflfed  out. 


down  always.  You  can  make  smallpox  vaccination  compulsory; 
you  can  build  barriers  around  plague  and  cholera.” 

“Would  you  like  to  see  China  as  it  will  be  after  you  have  re- 
moved its  burden?”  With  dramatic  effect  curtains  are  thrown 
aside  and  a man  who  is  in  superb  physical  condition  and  is  full  of 

22 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


“pep”  appears.  He  carries  a small  load,  because  every  nation 
has  its  burden  of  ill  health,  and  he  stands  on  top  of  the  big  load  he 
formerly  carried.  A great  Chinese  flag  hangs  over  his  head  and 
with  the  lights  in  the  audience  dim,  he  makes  an  impressive  pic- 
ture. That  is  the  end  of  my  lecture. 

Additional  Object  Lessons 

If  I can  find  an  object  lesson  right  in  the  city  in  which  I am 
talking,  of  course  the  impression  is  much  stronger.  In  Canton  I 
discovered  an  old,  blind,  pock-marked  beggar  who  sat  all  day  at  a 
bridge.  He  had  been  sitting  there  for  years  and  everyone  in 
Canton  knew  him.  We  hired  him  to  come  to  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association  building  just  as  he  was.  I emphasized 
that  he  was  not  to  wash  or  change  his  appearance  in  any  way. 
On  the  inducement  of  more  money  daily  than  he  could  beg  in 
several  days  he  came,  but  very  much  frightened.  He  was  to  be 
the  object  lesson  for  smallpox  vaccination,  and  when  I brought 
him  out  on  the  platform  he  created  a sensation.  He  was  poor  and 
ignorant,  and  by  questions  and  answers  through  an  interpreter  I 
brought  out  the  fact  that  if  he  had  been  educated  and  had  been 
vaccinated  he  would  have  escaped  smallpox  and  today  might  be 
selling  silks  and  possibly  be  a rich  man.  His  sons  were  also  handi- 
capped because  of  his  ignorance.  It  weakens  the  city  of  Canton 
to  have  such  a thing  attack  the  people  over  and  over  again. 

Having  an  Objective 

Every  city  needs  a general  interpretation  of  the  health  problem, 
but  in  addition  we  always  have  a very  definite  objective.  No 
campaign  should  be  held  unless  there  is  a definite  objective  for  it. 
We  are  there  to  help  construct  something.  The  definite  objective 
may  be  one  of  several  things.  In  Canton  it  was  to  promote 
vaccination  for  smallpox.  The  governor  had  given  $10,000  to  a 
Chinese  hospital,  asking  the  authorities  to  use  the  money  in 
promoting  vaccination.  Before  our  campaign  the  greatest 
number  that  came  to  be  vaccinated  in  one  day  was  ninety-two. 
The  day  after  the  campaign  over  800  people  were  vaccinated. 

23 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


If  you  have  one  campaign  with  a definite  objective  that  is  actually 
achieved,  you  really  get  further  than  if  you  have  six  or  eight 
campaigns  with  weak  objectives,  each  going  off  half-cocked. 

Our  biggest  safeguard  is  to  make  sure  we  know  what  we’re 
going  out  for  as  a campaign  objective.  If  there  is  the  right 
objective  there  will  be  the  right  follow-up  work. 

Our  Health  Faculty 

One  of  the  most  important  steps  toward  getting  lasting  results 
from  our  campaign  is  the  organization  in  advance  of  what  we 
call  the  Health  Faculty.  This  is  made  up  of  students  from  local 
colleges  who  are  brought  together  primarily  to  explain  the  exhibits. 

This  method  of  procedure  was  a development.  The  first  ex- 
hibit we  conducted  had  no  explainers.  I rushed  around  like  a 
chicken  without  a head  and  tried  to  explain  it  to  the  whole  bunch. 
From  that  small  and  shameful  beginning  the  health  faculty 
started.  What  I am  giving  you  now  is  not  the  first  or  second 
plan;  it  is  the  ninth  or  tenth.  We  do  not  follow  this  plan, 
exactly,  all  the  time,  as  we  often  have  many  obstacles.  We 
make  our  plan  to  fit  the  circumstances. 

In  organizing  the  health  faculty  we  always  depend  upon  a 
local  man.  We  organize  this  group  on  a military  basis  with  a 
captain  at  the  head  and  lieutenants  under  him.  I don’t  train 
the  faculty.  I train  the  men  who  train  the  faculty. 

On  the  first  day  we  get  them  all  together,  make  them  sit  down, 
and  explain  the  whole  campaign  to  them.  Then  perhaps  four  or 
five  of  us  take  them  to  the  hall  where  the  exhibits  are  set  up  and 
let  them  read  the  captions.  When  you  have  50  in  your  faculty 
you  take  around  never  more  than  ten— in  five  groups.  Usually  I 
take  the  first  group  and  set  the  pace  and  then  the  lieutenants 
follow  along.  After  this  we  test  them  out  to  see  how  much 
they  understand.  If,  as  a result  of  the  test,  we  find  that  our 
faculty  understand  little  of  what  they  have  read,  we  know  that 
the  busy  business  man  will  understand  nothing,  and  we  give 
them  another  dose. 

On  the  second  day  we  start  pounding  the  stuff  in  by  sections. 

24 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


Members  of  the  Health  Faculty 

“Notice  that  these  fellows  are  wearing  badges  which  we  give  them  as 
recognition.  We  make  them  feel  that  it  is  an  honor  to  be  on  our  commit- 
tee, although,  when  they  return  to  school,  they  have  to  work  harder  than 
ever  to  make  up  for  the  time  they  lost.” 


25 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


We  give  each  man  a different  section  to  explain.  A man  may,  if 
he  desires,  exchange  sections  on  the  quiet  with  another  fellow. 
We  finish  the  sectional  work  on  the  third  day  and  then  the  lieuten- 
ants conduct  hearings.  A few  people  are  invited  to  these  hearings 
and  the  faculty  explain  the  exhibits  to  them. 

In  instructing  the  faculty  we  emphasize  several  points.  We 
give  each  man  a pointer  and  tell  him  that  it  should  be  held  in  his 
left  hand,  leaving  the  right  hand  free  to  be  used  in  emphasizing 
his  statements.  He  must  not  look  at  the  chart  he  is  explaining 
but  should  keep  his  eyes  on  the  people  to  whom  he  is  talking. 
Then  he  must  concentrate  on  the  men  who  are  sincerely  trying  to 
understand  him.  There  are  always  some  in  each  group  of  ten 
who  do  not  need  much  help,  but  the  explainer  should  direct  his 
talk  to  the  men  who  need  help.  He  should  talk  on  schedule 
time.  He  must  know  how  many  words  should  be  said  on  each 
chart  or  subject;  He  must  keep  his  crowd  with  him.  He  must 
not  allow  tw'o  or  three  to  lag  behind  to  look  at  the  first  thing  after 
he  has  gone  to  the  second.  If  a man  cannot  hold  his  crowd  to- 
gether from  the  very  first,  he  is  no  good.  He  must  be  master  of 
them,  keep  them  with  him  on  the  first  exhibit,  push  them  to  the 
second,  lug  them  to  the  third,  and  drive  them  to  the  fourth. 
Otherwise  the  procession  will  be  broken  up  and  those  who  lag 
behind  will  miss  much  of  the  exhibits  farther  on.  The  explainer 
should  deal  with  one  point  at  a time  and  hammer  that  in. 

In  Tientsin  our  organization  was  more  complicated.  There  we 
had  a different  health  faculty  for  every  meeting.  Mr.  Nipps  had 
charge  of  them.  He  saw  even  more  than  I had  seen.  To  organ- 
ize a “close  corporation’’  health  faculty  of  a captain,  a few  lieu- 
tenants, and  a few  score  of  helpers  would  rob  450  men  of  the 
chance  to  get  this  inside  dope.  Mr.  Nipps  told  me  that  he  was 
willing  to  do  all  the  work  if  I would  allow  him  to  have  a separate 
faculty  for  each  meeting.  He  organized  that  thing  so  carefully 
that  we  left  500  students  in  Tientsin  with  the  message. 

In  Changsha,  where  we  taught  75  men,  I should  say  that  to  do 
this  was  of  more  permanent  value  than  to  reach  the  30,000  people 
who  passed  through  the  hall  and  spent  only  a little  time  at  each 

26 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


exhibit.  By  thoroughly  teaching  these  75  men  we  threw  mustard 
seed  all  over  the  place.  Of  course  it  is  a fine  thing  and  it  gives 
you  a fine  sensation  to  have  thousands  of  people  before  you  to 
hear  you  talk,  but  the  big  thing  really  is  to  leave  a few  men,  such 
as  the  75  in  Changsha,  well  informed  on  your  subject  and  im- 
pressed with  the  need  of  carrying  on  the  work  begun  during  the 
campaign.  The  thousands  who  come  and  see  and  listen  become 
« then  the  prepared  ground  for  the  health  faculty  members  to  cul- 
tivate after  the  coolies  have  toted  our  exhibit  cases  out  of  the 
city. 

In  addition  to  the  health  faculty  we  have  a group  of  ushers. 
These  ushers,  being  at  the  exhibit  all  the  time,  get  a little  more 
“inside  knowledge’’  than  do  the  people  who  come  through  only 
once.  The  Chinese,  like  the  rest  of  us,  are  proud  to  pass  on  their 
superior  knowledge.  So  the  ushers,  too,  help  the  good  work 
along  after  we  leave  the  city. 

In  each  city  we  must  leave  footprints  in  granite,  and  we  expose 
the  students  in  our  health  faculties  so  frequently  and  get  them  to 
absorb  so  much  of  our  interpretation,  commit  them  so  publicly  as 
exponents  that  we  leave  behind  us  a group  of  men  w'ho  will  con- 
tinue to  spread  our  information  after  we  are  gone. 

Our  whole  method  is  as  yet  an  unfinished  and  developing  one. 
From  the  beginning  we  have  been  experimenting,  scrapping  ideas 
and  pieces  of  apparatus  as  we  found  better  ones.  I began  the 
demonstrated  lectures  because  I found  that  large  numbers  of  the 
people  were  not  interested  in  unbroken  talking.  They  did  not 
remember  what  they  heard. 

How  Apparatus  is  Made 

The  chief  part  of  the  apparatus  used  in  the  exhibits  is  made  at 
the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  national  headquarters  by 
the  Chinese  staff.  Most  of  these  men  could  neither  read  nor 
write.  Two  of  the  Chinese  staff  travel  with  me  to  set  up  material 
and  make  new  pieces  as  they  are  required.  Much  of  the  appara- 
tus that  I have  described  I may  not  use  again.  Every  audience 
helps  one  to  learn  how  to  do  things  better,  and  new  ways  of  show- 

27 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


ing  the  same  old  ideas  are  constantly  being  worked  into  shape  and 
tried  out  in  succeeding  campaigns.  We  are  always  looking  for 
new  material  from  America.  But  no  matter  how  clever  an  idea 
may  seem  to  be,  if  it  does  not  get  across  to  our  audiences  we  can- 
not use  it.  If  our  Chinese  people  become  interested  in  some 
curious  feature  about  a picture  or  an  object  that  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  idea  we  are  trying  to  put  over,  the  picture  and  the  object 
have  no  place  in  our  campaign. 


Ill 

THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATED  TALKS  IN  AMERICA 

The  illustrated  or,  as  Dr.  Peter  calls  it,  the  “demonstrated 
talk”  is  not  a new  method  in  this  country.  We  are  familiar  with 
the  lecturer  who  describes  and  at  the  same  time  carries  out  a 
process  before  the  eyes  of  his  audience.  Illustrating  information 
with  pictures,  or  facts  and  ideas  with  charts,  is  also  an  everyday 
occurrence.  But  it  is  not  so  common  a practice  for  speakers  to 
give  concreteness  to  abstract  ideas  with  symbols  as  Dr.  Peter  has 
done.  The  method  has  been  used  to  some  extent  in  the  mission- 
ary field,  in  Sunday  schools,  temperance  work,  and  other  move- 
ments. As  far  as  we  know,  the  members  of  the  Y.M.C.A. 
lecture  department  in  China  have  been  pioneers  in  recognizing 
the  wide  range  of  topics  and  ideas  that  can  be  effectively  illus- 
trated by  platform  speakers. 

Dr.  Peter,  as  one  of  this  lecture  group,  has  made  a definite 
contribution  to  the  field  of  health  education,  not  only  by  demon- 
strating new  possibilities  in  the  use  of  object  lessons,  but  also  by 
inventing  devices  that  can  be  used  practically  without  change  in 
public  health  talks  here  as  well  as  in  China.  Indeed,  several  of  his 
devices  illustrate  ideas  that  speakers  on  many  topics  in  the  social 
welfare  field  have  occasion  to  interpret  to  audiences.  For  ex- 
ample, his  set  of  interlocking  wheels  illustrating  the  value  of  co- 
operation in  community  work;  the  man  carrying  a load  repre- 

28 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


seating  the  diseases  (or  it  might  be  any  other  set  of  handicaps) 
which  burden  a nation  (or  any  class  or  group  of  people) ; these 
and  others  of  his  illustrations  could  be  applied  equally  well  to  a 
great  variety  of  fields  as  well  as  to  public  health.  His  population 
tables  and  “Jacob’s  ladder’’  are  graphic  and  interesting  forms  of 
presenting  statistical  facts  that  are  adapted  to  many  uses. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  borrow  Dr.  Peter’s  exact  devices. 
Granted  that  a speaker  may  use  objects,  mechanical  devices,  and 
dramatic  action  to  enliven  and  add  clearness  to  the  spoken  word, 
the  only  limit  to  varied  and  effective  forms  are  the  speaker’s 
ability  and  resourcefulness  in  producing  and  employing  them. 
Any  method  of  presenting  information  so  that  it  actually  “gets 
across,’’  calls  for  ability,  time,  thought,  and  money;  so  that  to 
say  that  an  illustrated  talk  demands  these  is  not  to  suggest  that 
it  is  more  difficult  than  any  other  educational  method.  There 
is,  of  course,  the  danger  of  misusing  mechanical  devices  or  dra- 
matic action.  It  is  easily  possible  to  make  either  so  clever  that  it 
attracts  attention  to  itself  instead  of  to  the  idea  the  device  is 
supposed  to  illustrate;  or  so  elaborate  or  complex  as  to  obscure 
rather  than  clarify  the  idea. 

It  is  surprising  that  the  object  lesson  talk  has  not  been  more 
widely  used  than  it  has,  because  there  is  much  evidence  that 
people  are  attracted  to  and  respond  to  the  combination  of  a good 
speaker  and  a set  of  stage  properties.  Observation  of  visitors  at 
fairs  and  expositions  shows  that  usually  the  crowd  is  largest  and 
its  members  remain  longest  where  a good  talker  is  explaining  an 
exhibit.  The  patent-medicine  salesman  has  developed  a con- 
siderable technique  in  using  an  assortment  of  queer  objects  that 
he  spreads  out  on  the  ground  or  on  a table  or  wagon,  picking  up 
one  or  the  other  to  help  him  drive  home  an  argument. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Robertson,  who  was  the  first  of  the  group  of 
Y.M.C.A.  lecturers  in  China  to  use  this  object  method,  has  had 
striking  evidence  of  its  value  as  an  aid  to  memory.  In  various 
parts  of  the  world  he  has  met  people  who  recalled  having  heard 
five  or  ten  years  earlier  his  lecture  on  the  gyroscope  or  on  some 
other  scientific  instrument  or  topic,  and  in  nearly  every  case  they 

29 


HEALTH  SHOW  COMES  TO  TOWN 


remembered  not  only  the  form  of  the  lecture  but  much  of  the 
substance  of  it  as  well. 

Perhaps  the  most  natural  starting  point  in  scheming  out  plans 
for  an  illustrated  lecture  on  facts  and  ideas  is  the  exhibit  of  ob- 
jects, models,  electrical  devices,  and  posters  which  are  now  so 
frequently  displayed  in  a series  of  booths.  Much  material  of 
this  kind  could  easily  be  adapted  in  size  and  form  to  platform  use. 
The  next  and  most  difficult  step  is  to  find  and  train  people  with 
the  ability  to  talk  well  while  they  are  displaying  illustrative 
material.  There  is  just  as  much  reason  for  the  thorough  training 
and  rehearsal  of  speakers  and  demonstrators  of  social  welfare 
topics  as  for  that  of  actors  or  singers. 

It  may  be  that  the  failure  to  develop  the  object  lesson  method 
in  America  is  due  to  our  unwillingness  to  acknowledge  that 
adults  take  pleasure  in  toys.  In  an  article  in  one  of  our  magazines 
describing  Dr.  Peter’s  work,  his  “tinkling  bells,  moving  dolls,  and 
fascinating  gimcracks’’  are  referred  to  as  peculiarly  appropriate  to 
the  Chinese  grown-ups  who  still  enjoy  these  things.  Perhaps  the 
difference  is  that  they  are  frank  and  open  about  enjoying  them 
and  do  not  feel  it  necessary  to  fall  back  on  the  American  father’s 
excuse  for  going  to  the  circus.  However,  the  writer,  in  observing 
several  audiences  of  sophisticated  people  as  they  listened  to  Dr. 
Peter  and  watched  him  display  his  novelties,  decided  that  their 
attention  and  interest  could  hardly  be  less  keen  than  that  given 
by  Chinese  grown-ups. 


30 


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